As usual, the enemy this year was busyness. Being busy is not necessarily a bad thing. We are thankful to be busy at our jobs, than be out of work. We are thankful to be busy doing home repairs and improvements, than to be homeless. The big cost this year was a new water line. Just so you know, regular home owner’s insurance does not cover that. We also are busy with school, but can now see the finish line, May 2012, which of course means looking to new goals, after a bit of celebration.

Sophia’s first cake

By Christmas, Sophia will be 1 1/2 years old. She has been busy completing more milestones than anyone in the family: crawling to walking, a handful of words, using silverware, identifying body parts, ABCs, and dancing to any music that has a good beat. She also enjoys electronics, especially touch screen tablets and smart phones. She believes sliding her finger across the television and saying “Swoosh!” makes the red Netflix retrieving bar grow across the screen. Her first birthday was a highlight this year, being given a pool party and chocolate cake by her god-parents. Having a church family is a blessing.

Sophia, god-mother Sandy, and god-father Andy working in the background as he so often does

As I said earlier, Jennifer and I have both entered our final year of our respective M.A. and M.Div. programs. By Christmas, we will both have one semester remaining. In her studies, Jennifer got to spend some time in New York and Birmingham, has done some amazing research on how the Social Gospel Movement intersects with the Civil Rights Movement, and is leading a Christian book club. For my studies, I got to travel to Israel (the travel log is on the blog), was able to improve my preaching skills, do some coaching, and starting leading a Growth Group. Having grandmas come to visit Sophia while each of us traveled was also a blessing this year. (Blood-family is also a blessing.) Oh, and I performed a wedding on about 40 minutes notice. In no particular order: work, graduate school, church, and family, keep us so busy it seems there is rarely time for things like cleaning or sleep. We did get to go out to the theater to see Miss Saigon, and we are pretty regular about decompressing on Friday nights when there are new episodes of Fringe on television. And of course none of this, the work or the rest, would get done without the blessing of having Naomi in our lives. If we ever have to move, we are taking her with us!

Angels Visiting the Shepherds by Henry O. Tanner

We have to watch out for busyness. The shepherds were busy watching their sheep, but knew when it was time to stop, and do something else more important. When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. (Luke 2:15-18)

During this Christmas season we all seem to get even more busy. It is the end of the semester. We have to buy presents, mail cards, and make travel plans. We do not always keep up with our lists of things to do. We have found that it is not about what is at the top of the list, but what is at the center of our life. Christ is at the center. He tells me it is more important to play with my daughter than buy her a present. It is more important to spend time in prayer than writing the sermon. Better to get an “A” in love than in Global Christian History. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33)

Drizzle, Naomi, Paul, Sophia, and Jennifer

When you think of us, pray that we are able to finish strong next year, and get clear direction from God as to where, and in what way, we should use the education and resources he has provided. We look forward to next year, when hopefully we can stop carrying around the overloaded platter. We want our hearts, home, and lives to be full with what God desires for us, not simply filled with everything that could possibly be stuffed in.

P.S. – If you found your way to this letter via email, Twitter, or Facebook, instead of an old fashioned Christmas card, it is probably because I could not find your address. Do not consider yourself left out; you are cutting edge! As the price of stamps goes up, we are much less likely to be sending out Christmas cards. Besides, you did not miss much. This year we did Christmas cards on a budget. We gathered together all the half boxes of cards that we had not sent out from previous years, and supplemented those with boxes from the Dollar Store. (Twenty cards for $1.00! The return address labels cost more, and the stamp more than both combined. Sure, they are not printed on think card-stock, and the envelopes are tissue paper thin, but twenty for $1.00! )

©2011 Paul Tillman